What's Your Cleaning Personality?

Over the last nine years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with hundreds of people in their homes. One thing that I’ve seen is that people have distinct cleaning personalities. Which of these six cleaning personalities are you?

1. The Little Bits

If you are the Little Bits cleaning personality, you are the type who likes to break down your cleaning tasks into small pieces and do a little bit when you have a few spare moments. People who fit this personality grab a duster when they see a layer of dust on the knick knacks, vacuum when they see dog hair accumulating in the corners, and clean other little bits of the home at a time.

If this is your cleaning style, you likely have a relaxed attitude when it comes to your home, but you can’t stand to see your home dirty. You do what it takes to keep your home clean, but you don’t stress about making sure it’s all clean at the same time. Your home is clean and comfortable, but there’s a chance that details are getting missed. While it can be a good thing to clean little bits of your home at a time, make sure you are also taking note to make sure that the not-so-obvious areas are also staying clean.

2. The Perfectionist

How do you know if you’re the Perfectionist? If you clean every day, even vacuuming, and you apologize for your messy home when you know it’s actually fairly clean, there’s a good chance you’re the Perfectionist. The Perfectionist cleans everything, every day. Your home is always clean, and even the smallest mess bugs you.

The positive is that your home is always in perfect condition when people visit. The challenge that this cleaning personality has is that your family and friends may actually be intimidated by your home. People may feel uncomfortable not knowing if they should remove their shoes, or even have an open bottle of water, in your home. If you are a Perfectionist, make an extra special effort to make sure your friends and family know they are welcome in your home, even if you need to clean up AFTER they leave.

3. The Panicker

The next personality is the Panicker. If you say, “Oh crap!” when a friend says they are coming to your home, you are likely a Panicker. Every time you find out that someone is coming over, you go in to a frenzy, throwing stuff behind closed doors, putting dirty dishes in your oven, and frantically scrubbing a month’s worth of crusty toothpaste from your bathroom counter.

The positive with this cleaning personality is that you prove how much you can get done in a short amount of time. When you have a deadline, you can do amazing things. While the amount of work you can do in 15 minutes is impressive, there is a really good chance that your closets are crammed full of stuff, and there are some really gross areas of your home because you avoid cleaning until you have a major incentive. This cleaning personality can best benefit from hosting a dinner party once a month at your home. That way you have a regular deadline to get motivated to clean your home instead of waiting to panic.